


Jumping to conclusions

by Eowima



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s01e06 FZZT, F/M, what if Fitz jumped off the plane to save Jemma instead of Ward?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:15:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26562757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eowima/pseuds/Eowima
Summary: He doesn’t think.Not because he’s afraid that thinking too much would incapacitate him, would stop him from jumping to his probable death – because who is he kidding, he knows what he has to do, but that doesn’t mean he’s gonna succeed. But he has to. There’s no possible world he can live in where he isn’t at her side.He doesn’t think, because he doesn’t have time to.He needs to be fast. He needs to catch up to her.Jemma.Or: What if Fitz jumped off the plane to save Jemma in 1x06, instead of Ward?
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Comments: 44
Kudos: 75





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! :D
> 
> This is my first ever work for this fandom, I'm so excited! :D  
> Special thanks to the amazing @daisylincs, for her enthusiasm and for introducing me to this amazing show ♥  
> And special thanks to @iwannabeawriter96 for his much needed expertise on skydiving :D 
> 
> Enjoy!

**Jumping to conclusions**

“ _I’m doing what we always do. We’re gonna fix this. Together.”_

His throat hurts from screaming. The back of his head where she hit him does too.

His initial terrified state is gone in seconds after she’s jumped. His hands are shaking, he can barely breathe, but he knows what he has to do. He rushes to his station, to the fourth batch of anti-serum he made. He grabs the small cylinder, secures it in the device he built. He knew they could do it. He knew they would fix it.

Why did she have to go and jump off that stupid plane then?

_Jemma_.

She gave up hope. She gave up on them. He wants to know why, but now isn’t the time to ponder. He’ll ask her. When everything is done, when everything is _fixed_. Because he’s gonna do it, he’s gonna fix it.

He knows what he has to do.

His left hand clamped around the device, he rushes through the doors of the lab – _their_ lab – and grabs a parachute from above the row of seats. Hastily secures the straps on, the wind slapping his face from the open ramp of the plane. His heart is pounding so hard in his chest that’s all he can hear. But he knows what he has to do.

He doesn’t think.

Not because he’s afraid that thinking too much would incapacitate him, would stop him from jumping to his probable death – because who is he kidding, he knows what he has to do, but that doesn’t mean he’s gonna succeed. But he has to. There’s no possible world he can live in where he isn’t at her side.

He doesn’t think, because he doesn’t have time to.

He needs to be fast. He needs to catch up to her.

_Jemma_.

He’s seen James Bond movies. He knows how to do this – theoretically. The wind is all around him, he can barely see, he can barely breathe. The pounding of his heart is faint in his ears now, replaced by the whistling noise of the wind enveloping him. The adrenaline is coursing through his veins, and when he sees her, right as she disappears in a cloud, he forces his arms at his sides and dives right after her. It’s a very counter-intuitive thing to do – as is jumping off a plane really – but he still does it without hesitating.

The speed at which he’s falling is terrifying. His scientific brain wants to find solace in calculating said speed, but he forcefully shuts himself up. There is no time. His mind is racing now, anticipating everything despite his attempt not to. Overthinking things is not a good idea. He needs to focus on _doing_ and not _thinking_ – another very counter-intuitive thing for him.

He’s never felt more driven in his life before though. That’s a good thing.

He needs that.

It only takes a few seconds to reach the cloud she disappeared in, and then he can see her. He needs to figure out how to control his fall so that he doesn’t slam into her and hurt her. He’s never done this before – of course not. He’s seen videos though. Movies. Tutorials. He can do this. He just needs to slow down his fall enough to be at the same level, and then grab her. It’s gonna be fine.

Everything’s gonna be fine.

_Jemma_.

He’s getting close, and she’s seen him now. She’s trying to stop spinning but with her back to the ground – well, the ocean – she doesn’t seem to be able to. He doesn’t know how, but he somehow manages to stop right at her level and grab her arm with his right hand, tugging her to him with all the strength he can muster. Her body collides with his as her hands grab at his shoulders, and then she’s wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, clinging to him so hard it takes his breath away.

He did it. He’s got her.

He administers the anti-serum as soon as he’s sure they’re both holding on tight, zapping it on her left leg, and hears her whimper in his ear. The last step is as tricky as the rest, reaching for the handle of his parachute to deploy it. He’s under the impression that he fumbles for it for _ages_ between their two bodies, and when he finally manages to yank it, the wave of pure relief crashing through him almost makes him break.

The whiplash induced by the deployment of the parachute is sudden and violent, making them hold onto each even more tightly, slowing their fall in seconds. The noise quiets down around them, and he can breathe again. She feels so warm, so _alive_ against him. He’s thankful for her tight embrace because he’s pretty sure he’d be quivering without her. He did it. She’s here. She’s safe.

_Jemma_.

He’s so lost in his relief to have her back that he barely even notices the blue electromagnetic pulse coming out of her. She goes slack in his arms and he figures she might have lost consciousness, just like the rat in the lab. It only last for a couple of seconds, then he hears her sharp inspiration and she tightens her grip around his shoulders once again.

In any other situation he would probably complain just a little, or make a joke of some sort, something about a koala maybe – they’re not primates but they’re a little similar, he can tolerate them even if they’re definitely not as cool as monkeys. But he’s too breathless, too worn out to even try and think about something good, something that would make her laugh. He would love to hear her laugh, just to make it even more of a certainty that she is okay.

Because she is. They did it. They fixed it.

He goes for the most generic thing to say, the kind of useless assertion that doesn’t bring anything to the conversation but a very blatant, unnecessary observation. “It worked,” he states breathlessly, then thinks he’s maybe being too hard on himself. Observations are very important in any type of science field after all. “The anti-serum worked.”

She lets out a wet, disbelieving chuckle, and he can feel the small but warm puff of air on the sensitive skin under his ear. It does something to his heart that he’s not quite ready to analyze just yet. She doesn’t say anything, and he knows why. He can feel her trying to catch her breath against him, and he wishes he could help with that too. She just needs time. He isn’t sure how exactly he’s so calm right now – breathless and trembling with exhaustion, yes, but the only thing he’s feeling at the moment is the most powerful sense of relief he’s ever felt in his life.

The aftershock is gonna be violent, he can already anticipate that.

But in the meantime, they’re safe.

Well. As safe as humanly possible while dangling 1,500 meters above the Atlantic Ocean. So, mostly safe. There are still tons of variables to consider, tons of things that could go wrong, but he elects to not think about these. She’s here, flushed against him, breathing the same air, and she’s safe. The others on the bus are gonna come and get them, and that’s gonna be the end of it.

_Jemma_.

He just needs to keep her safe for a little while longer. After all, they are suspended to a one-person parachute above the Atlantic. He knows she’s a pretty good swimmer, but a 1,500-meter drop is definitely _not_ advisable. So that’s his task for now. Hanging onto her and making sure she doesn’t plummet to her death _again_.

He cannot believe she was willing to sacrifice herself to save them all. _Ah_ , but who is he kidding, he should have seen this coming, of _course_ she would do something like this. She’s the most caring, selfless, beautiful human-being he’s ever met.

And yet. The relief warming his heart before is slowly subsiding, revealing a cold anger he wasn’t aware he’d been feeling this whole time. How could she do this to him? It’s unfair of him, he thinks, her heart was in the right place, but he somehow cannot stop himself from feeling this. The words come out of his mouth without him really thinking them.“What were you thinking?”

It comes out a lot more accusatory than he would ever intend, and her scoff in response is no surprise. She unwinds her arms from around his neck, just enough to be able to look at his face, and she’s frowning, of course she is. Meeting her wonderfully familiar brown eyes does another something to his heart, and this time he does think about it just enough to deem it not a good idea at all to think about _that_ specifically.

This is not good.

“What was _I thinking_?!” she retorts in an affronted voice, that voice he knows so well from years of hearing it. “Excuse- _you_ , what was I supposed to do? Let you all die?!”

“Of course not!”

“For all I knew the rat was _dead_ , Fitz–”

“Well it wasn’t so–”

“Yeah I know that now,” she interrupts him too, letting out a sigh. It’s not born from annoyance though, more like she’s embarrassed. They’re so close he can witness every micro expression on her face, every shift in her eyes. She’s just a breath away, their noses almost touching. His heart is pounding, and he suspects it has nothing to do with skydiving.

“Next time try not to jump too quickly to conclusions,” he suggests after a beat, ignoring his dry mouth and the overwhelming feeling that something major is about to change. But maybe he’s being ridiculous. Maybe he’s just overthinking things again. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s always been that way and he’s only just now seeing it.

She laughs. She laughs at his stupid pun. She lets her head lightly drop on his shoulder, chuckling softly, and he tells himself he’s only tightening his grip on her back because of her sudden movement. His hands are crunching the soft fabric of her blue sweater now. He wants to pull her even closer, and never let go. It’s an irrational thought, a ridiculous one, and yet.

When she looks up again, an amused smile on her lips, his heart skips another beat. It scares him. He can’t be feeling things for her, she’s his best friend, this isn’t right. But maybe it’s just the situation. She almost died, they both did, he’s just deeply relieved that it’s not the case, is all. Coupled with how impossibly close to him she is right now… it makes sense. He’s not being too irrational after all.

It doesn’t matter that he glances down at her lips when her smile slowly fades away, and it definitely doesn’t mean anything when she looks down at his lips too. They’re just finding comfort in each other’s closeness because they both almost died. That’s it.

“You saved me.”

Her voice is soft and caring, and a shiver runs up his spine. It’s a simple statement, and yet it still takes his breath away for some reason. He wants to tell her she saved herself just as much as he did, that it was a team effort, that they did it like they always do, _together_.

He wants to tell he’s pretty sure life without her wouldn’t be worth it.

But the words are trapped in his chest, trapped by something in her eyes he’s not sure he’s ever seen before. And he’s known her for years, he thought he knew her every expression, thought he’d witness all of them, thought he could name and understand them all. But this one is new. She’s looking at him in a way she’s never looked at him before, and he has no idea what it means, or what she’s thinking.

Skye said earlier it looked like they were psychicly linked, and he must admit that sometimes he thinks so too. He knows her every tell, he can guess what she thinks from the slightest shift in her eyes, or the smallest scrunch of her nose. That’s because they both think the same way, that’s why they can finish each other’s sentences or reasoning so often, and why they’ve grown so close in the years that they’ve known each other.

In engineering things are what they are, they don’t change.

In biochemistry things are much more malleable, much more unpredictable.

She’s used to adapt to things, while he isn’t at all.

He’s not sure any of what he’s thinking makes sense at the moment. His brain is an endless swirl of erratic thoughts he can’t control. He can’t talk either, so he just nods and shrugs at the same time, tightening his hold on her back again. She’s so close still, so desperately close, he would only have to move a couple of inches to close the distance between them. Close the distance between their lips. But he can’t do that. That’s not, it’s not…

“Thank you,” she whispers, and it’s faint and shy, but he still hears it. He cannot say anything to that. Not when she’s still looking at him that way, not when she’s glancing at his lips again, not when she seems to ever so slightly lean forward all of a sudden. He can’t move at all. He stays still, waiting, waiting for her to close the gap, waiting for her not to, he has no idea. He can’t move, can’t think, all he can do is wait.

Her nose brushes his, and his heart is pounding in his chest. She presses her forehead against his, her eyes fluttering to a close, and he leans into her touch, not even daring to breathe. They stay still for a second, then she moves again, slowly, deliberately, and he knows she’s aiming for his lips next. His breath is caught up in his chest, his heartbeat quickening. He won’t lie and say he’s never imagined what kissing her would feel like. He can’t believe he’s about to find out.

But then there’s a loud rumble above their heads, and they both instinctively look up, the moment fleeting away from them. Probably the bus coming back to fish them out of the water. Speaking of…

“I think we’re close,” Jemma tells him, and her voice is a little hesitant now. She’s not looking directly at him anymore, and he can’t blame her. His cheeks feel like they’re burning, but hopefully she doesn’t see it. “Depth perception is rendered difficult by the water but I’m pretty sure we’re about to, well, land.” She makes a face at the inaccuracy of what she just said, and his lips stretch in an amused smile that has her roll her eyes. “This is not gonna be easy,” she adds with a serious expression, “you’re gonna have to make sure–”

“–not to get tangled in the canopy or the lines, yes I know.”

“I’m going to swim away from you as fast as possible, to leave you room to get rid of your harness.” She stops for a second, assessing him in her most analytical gaze she has in store – he likes this one, although it’s never usually directed at him. “I’m betting there’s no flotation device on that thing.”

“Didn’t think to grab one before I jump,” he admits with another amused smile.

“Well that was pretty reckless of you,” she says, raising an eyebrow at him, and his mouth falls open at that.

“Well you’re the one to talk!” he retorts in disbelief, ready to launch himself in a demonstration on how much more reckless she was just now, jumping off of that stupid plane without anything in the first place. But then he catches her smirk, and he lets out a sigh. The water surface is getting closer, any minute now they’re gonna drop in. There will be plenty of time to bicker with her once everything is over, he thinks.

“We can do this,” she says, and he knows she’s telling him just as much as she’s telling herself.

He catches her eyes one last time, relishing in the way her expression lightens up ever so slightly when he gives her a small smile and a nod.

“Together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I split this in two, mostly because I'm so excited to post the part I already finished lol xD but also the second part is the aftermath of the jumping off the plane thingy, so there's that! :D Expect part two soon, I'm on a writing spree and it feels really good
> 
> Anyway, hope you liked this, thank you very much for reading, please don't hesitate to drop by in the comment section, I lovvvve feedback! :D  
> ♥
> 
> Ooh, and I'm on Tumblr too @eowima :D


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But the thing is, she’s not sure this is just a biological reaction. If it was just that, she wouldn’t crave for his touch as much now that they’re safe. Except she does. She wants to hold him again, she wants to feel him breathe against her, she wants him to wrap her in his arms and never let go. She wants to feel safe again, and being flushed against him while they fell from the sky is somehow the safer she’s ever felt in her life. 
> 
> Which is definitely not a logical thing, _at all _.__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ASKSKSKSK I did it!
> 
> Okay, this chapter was supposed to be like, 2.5k max, but it got away from me lolz hope you'll like it, I definitely had a blast writing from Jemma's POV! (I love her)
> 
> Before we start though, I just wanted to say how grateful I am for all of you guys, I am truly blown away by the support I got on the previous chapter, I absolutely did not expect so much love!! So thank you all for that, it means so much to me, I'm so excited to become a part of the AoS fandom! (I'm not truly IN just yet, we're not done watching the show so I avoid spoilers at all costs haha)
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy this second part! :D

**Jumping to conclusions**

  
  


The water is freezing, but hopefully they won’t have to wait long for the team to rescue them. After he’s successfully taken off his parachute harness, Fitz makes a couple of stupid Titanic jokes while they swim away from the canopy to avoid getting tangled, and she pretends to sigh each time.

But the truth is, she’s very glad he’s behaving like everything is fine.

Like they aren’t drifting in the middle of the cold Atlantic ocean, or like they didn’t just jump off a plane, or like one of them didn’t just get almost killed by an alien virus.

It helps her stay grounded, in a way. It would be all too easy to just give up right here and now. She figures she’s on the verge of a meltdown – all signs point to it –, but to be honest, who could blame her?

It would be a perfectly natural reaction to all of this.

Having to let go of Fitz when they hit the water almost triggered it. Without the warm, safe embrace of his arms around her, she instantly felt lost and desperate, and it took all her willpower to get her limbs moving to keep her head above the water. She felt drained, like a shadow of herself, but when Fitz got rid of his harness and swam towards her, one brush of his fingers on the back of her hand melted all of these dark feelings away.

After that she’s only left with very conflicted feelings, the impression that she will forever be cold, and a best friend that seems deeply intent on taking her mind off of everything – which she would have found sweet in any other circumstances, but which actually only seems to be messing with her brain at the moment.

She cannot believe she almost kissed him.

Not that it’s a thought that’s never occurred to her, or that repulsed her or anything. Fitz’s always been handsome, and  _ yes _ , she probably had a small crush on him during her first few days at the Academy, she’s not gonna lie. But getting to know him, realizing how compatible they were, how their brains seemed to align and work perfectly together, it all kind of pushed away that tiny crush of hers – which was absolutely fine by her, because the friendship they built from there was so much better than anything she could have imagined.

But now he’s jumped off a plane to save her.

She’d been ready, ready to die to save them all, but especially  _ him _ . She knew the risks coming into the field. She knew what she was getting herself into. Granted, she’d wished it hadn’t come so soon – or at all really. But she had made up her mind. That’s why she’d taken the decision to knock him out with the fire extinguisher. She knew he’d try to stop her, she knew he’d never lose hope until the very last second. She couldn’t afford to put his life and the others’ at risk like this. She knew what she had to do.

She thought knocking him out would protect him from the raging pain she felt at the idea of leaving him. She hadn’t done that good of a job though. He’d woken up just as she was about to jump. She knows now that she’ll never forget the look of utter desperation and panic in his eyes when he’d realized what she was about to do.

Thinking back, it’s the one thing she regrets the most. She never meant to hurt him. She knew her death would probably be hard on him, but what she definitely didn’t want was for him to watch her go.

She really needs to work on her abilities to knock people out. Maybe she could ask agent May for some advice.

She is pretty glad he actually woke up to realize the anti-serum had worked though. She wouldn’t be having this discussion with herself if it weren’t for that.

Everything about this is so crazy it’s ridiculous.

They’ve been in the water for ten good minutes now. She’s always been a good swimmer, but she definitely notices that Fitz is in more difficulties than he lets out. When they hear the Bus still high above their heads, she turns to him, reaching for his hand under the water. “You should go first,” she tells him, brushing his wrist in a shy gesture.

He instantly frowns at that, which doesn’t surprise her. “And why is that?” he scoffs, and she tilts her head to the side with a closed-lip smile.

“Fitz, we both know I’m a better swimmer than you.”

“Ha, yeah, well, that’s not, I mean–” he mumbles some nonsense in his beard for a while, and she can’t help her fond smile. Some things will never change. She must say, she’s deeply relieved to not be gone for good. To still be here to witness her best friend get all cranky when she points out one of his weaknesses. To still be able to watch him pout like a small child, watch his blue eyes go round and deeply offended, watch him attempt to stammer out everything he’s thinking all at once.

A hard lump slowly grows in her throat at this thought. Suddenly it gets a little harder to breathe and her eyes start burning. She takes a shaky breath, hoping against all senses she won’t start crying. She wouldn’t be embarrassed to cry in front of him, of course not, but she isn’t sure if she’d be able to stop anytime soon if she does. The aftershock is close, which is a natural response to such stressful events, she knows it. She would love to be able to avoid that particular part though.

“Jemma.”

She looks up to meet his gaze, her throat so contrite it hurts. There is concern in these oh so familiar blue eyes, and her heart jumps at this sight. Of course he’d notice the shift in her mood, it must read all over her face. He’s closer than a few seconds ago, she can feel his hesitation over whether or not to touch her. This is all too much, she thinks. If she stops pretending that she’s okay, she’ll lose herself, she knows it. “I’m fine,” she tells him with what she hopes is a reassuring nod, but she instantly knows from his expression that she doesn’t fool him one bit.

“You’re a terrible liar, Simmons,” he points out with somewhat of a smug expression, and she makes a face at that, because he’s right. She  _ is _ a terrible liar. Always has been. “You’re going to be fine though,” he adds with a serious nod. “You have to.”

She smiles, shaking her head at the determination she feels in his words. He’s still looking at her intently though, so she bites her lip and just nods. He’s right. She’s going to be okay, thanks to him. His fingers brush her forearm, and it’s probably just by accident since they’re still very close, but the contact helps to ground her once again. A shiver runs through her, and she isn’t sure if it’s from the cold water, or from his touch.

She doesn’t get to ponder much on an explanation, because the Bus is suddenly above them, the ramp open, agents May and Ward ready to fish them out of the ocean. They send down a harness and when it reaches them, they both look at each other with hesitant faces. She doesn’t want to have to argue with him, and he apparently feels the same way. People sometimes tell them it looks as if they can read each other’s mind, and sometimes she admits that she kind of thinks so too. So it’s no surprise to her when they both blurt out one word after a few seconds of staring at each other:

“Together?”

Fitz’ satisfied smile makes her heart leap in her chest, and she nods with a small smile of her own. They both grab the harness in the same motion, securing their hands, and when he opens his arm she doesn’t hesitate. Feeling his body pressed against hers is somehow a huge relief, and when the team starts to raise them up, she nuzzles her face against his neck, ignoring the painful pull on her arm and the exhaustion in her entire body. He’s holding onto her tightly like earlier, and that’s the only thing that matters.

She closed her eyes, and she might have blacked out for a few seconds because when she opens them again she’s lying safely on her side next to the spiraling staircase of the Bus. May is kneeling beside her, frowning, and helps her sit up when she starts trying too. “Easy there.”

“I’m okay,” she assures weakly, her eyes instinctively looking for Fitz. He’s standing near the glass doors of the lab, wrapped up in a thick blanket. Ward is standing beside him with his arms crossed, a pained expression on his face, but she doesn’t linger on that fact. May wraps her up in a blanket too, and helps her to her feet. It definitely feels weird to walk after falling from the sky into the ocean.

Not much is said, except that Coulson is waiting for them in his office, and that they should change before meeting him. May helps her up the stairs, and presses her upper arm for a second before leaving her to change. It makes her choke up just a little. To May, this is probably the equivalent of a big hug and two kisses on each cheek, so it definitely means a lot.

When she emerges from her bunk with clean clothes, Fitz is waiting for her. She walks to him, meeting his hesitant eyes with her own, and they walk side by side to the stairs leading to Coulson’s office. She’s never seen the agent in such an agitated state before, and listens in surprise as he rambles angrily about how it wasn’t either of their calls to do something like this. She doesn’t even dare look away from him to chance a look at Fitz, who must be particularly embarrassed – if she had to guess.

“Don’t you ever pull a stunt like that again,” the man spells out, clearly pissed. His gaze moves from her to Fitz, then back to her, and he adds in a quieter voice: “We’d hate to lose either of you.”

And, just like that, they’re dismissed. As they get out of the office, she meets Fitz’ unsure gaze, and she lets out the smallest chuckle of relief. It makes him smile, and then he’s opening his mouth, and she finds herself very anxious to hear what he has to say, for some reason. He’s stopped by Skye though, who runs to them and wraps them both in a tight hug, complaining and laughing in relief at the same time.

“You two idiots scared me to death,” Skye scoffs when she finally lets them go, turning her gaze to her with a frown. She gives her an apologetic smile, and her friend’s expression softens. After that Fitz excuses himself and goes back to his bunk, and all of a sudden she feels lost again. Skye interprets the change in her expression as exhaustion – which, to be fair, is a good interpretation – and she leads her back to her bunk, telling her to get some rest. Then she’s left by herself, her head filled with a lot of rambling thoughts.

The main one being how much she craves for Fitz’ arms to be around her again.

It’s a very new feeling for her. She’s not sure she can explain it. Well, that’s not true, of course she can. On a biochemical level, it makes a lot of sense. Jumping off the plane to her death released a surge of adrenaline in her system, creating a flight or fight kind of reaction in her body despite her decision to end things. It also created a spike in noradrenaline, which works in pair with adrenaline to mobilize the brain and body for action, and is known to enhance formation and retrieval of memories, focus attention, increase alertness… and arousal as well. Having Fitz catch her the way he did, feeling his body pressed against her in a way it never had before, it all probably triggered said arousal to higher level, which means her reaction, her desire to kiss him, was totally natural, biochemically speaking.

But the thing is, she’s not sure this is  _ just _ a biological reaction. If it was just that, she wouldn’t crave for his touch as much now that they’re safe. Except she does. She wants to hold him again, she wants to feel him breathe against her, she wants him to wrap her in his arms and never let go. She wants to feel safe again, and being flushed against him while they fell from the sky is somehow the safer she’s ever felt in her life.

Which is definitely not a logical thing,  _ at all _ .

She’s still in shock, she knows it, but she’s pretty sure it’s not just that. She’s known for a long time that Fitz is a very important part of her life, but almost dying today made her realize that there might be more to it than she previously thought.

Especially now that he’s jumped off a plane to save her.

She lies back on her bed, her heart pounding. Thinking about what he did is almost overwhelming, like a wave of something incredibly warm crashing through her. It’s soothing and scary at the same time, and she really doesn’t know where she’s standing.

Because it’s not just anyone.

It’s Fitz. Her best friend in the whole world.

Fitz, who helped her figure out how to create the anti-serum that saved her life.

Fitz, who braved quarantine despite knowing she could infect him.

Fitz, who didn’t falter when it seemed like all hope was lost – when  _ she _ lost hope.

Fitz, who kept fighting, Fitz, who jumped after her when it turned out the anti-serum worked.

He risked his life for her, jumping off a plane when he hasn’t even passed his field assessment. She knows for a fact that he’s never been skydiving before either. He could have waited for Ward, could have given him the anti-serum and let him dive to rescue her, because obviously that’s what operatives do.

But he didn’t.

He didn’t even hesitate.

She definitely cannot ignore what this means about him – what  _ she _ apparently means to him. She cannot forget the anger in his voice when he asked her what she was thinking. How hard he held onto her, pressing her tightly against his chest. How he looked down at her lips a few times, how his hands balled up into fists when she’d leaned her forehead against his.

She had been about to kiss him, and he hadn’t shied away from it.

Actually, she’s pretty sure he’d moved even closer.

She’s not sure what any of this means. In a way, she’s kind of amazed by how trivial it all seems to be, especially compared to almost being killed by an alien virus. Yet that’s the one and only subject she has in mind right now. She should be excited about going to the Sandbox and handing in their report on how they managed to create the anti-serum. Well, she  _ is _ excited about this, obviously, but it’s definitely not her main concern at the moment.

No,  _ somehow _ , her main concern at the moment is determining if she should knock on Fitz’ door and kiss him.

_ That _ would be a bold move.

She’s not especially bold, at least she doesn’t think so. Definitely not as bold as May, or even Skye. That being said, she thinks she  _ could _ be.

But it’s scary.

Because, once again, it’s not just anyone.

It’s Fitz.

Her best friend.

She keeps getting back to the same arguments over and over again. She’s a mess, and the funny thing is, she  _ knows _ that seeing him would untangle the mess of her thoughts. Because that’s what they are to each other: they’re each other’s enabler. He makes things possible for her, and she does the same for him. That’s why it’s always advantageous to pair them up together, they manage to get so much work done that way. They complement each other. Everyone in SHIELD knows that. Even  _ Director Fury _ knows about ‘Fitz-Simmons’.

They’re already a thing, aren’t they?

Oh wow she’s really getting confused. She just needs to get in there and see. Gather information on where  _ he _ ’s standing, and adapt from there. Yes, that’s a good plan. Well, a good enough plan. To be honest it’s not much of a plan at all, but she’s sick of pondering in her room alone like this. It’s not leading anywhere. She needs to figure out if what she’s feeling is a situational type of thing or not. And she needs to ask Fitz what he thinks about it, too. After all he is the main recipient of this whole mess she’s stuck herself in, right?

She should thank him too. She already did, back when they were still flying above the ocean, but she thinks it would be good to thank him again. She owes him her life, after all.

She probably should apologize for hitting him in the head with a fire extinguisher too, now that she thinks about it.

Before she can talk herself out of it, she springs up from her bed, opens the door of her bunk and makes her way to Fitz’. She takes a sharp breath before knocking gently, and smiles to herself when she hears his familiar voice telling her to come in. She opens the door slowly, forcing herself to grin casually – despite not feeling casual  _ at all _ . Her heart is definitely beating a little too fast for her liking. He’s sitting on his bunk, fiddling with another project of his, and when he looks up to meet her eyes, his eyebrows move up in surprise.

“Hi Fitz.”

“Hey, Jem– um Simmons, hi.”

It feels like her heart is falling deep into her chest. From his body language and his voice, she instantly figures he’s embarrassed, and nervous, and it’s definitely not helping her own nerves. This was a huge mistake, she thinks, but she can’t quite back out of it now. It would probably seem really weird. Why on earth is this so difficult? “Can we uh,” she takes a shaky breath, gesturing to the bed without really intending to, “can we talk about what happened earlier?”

His blue eyes widen in surprise, but after a couple of seconds he nods nervously, moving his stuff around so she can sit next to him. “Yeah, sure.”

So she does sit, and for a minute they sit there in an awkward silence that is in no way representative of how they usually are. She’s looking down at her hands, and when she eventually looks up Fitz looks down instantly, and she thinks she might catch a slow blush on his cheeks before he hides his face by scratching his temple. Everything is so painfully awkward her hands are shaking a little – a  _ lot _ . Why is it so hard?

She opens her mouth, very intent on getting out of this deeply awkward silence, but he does so at the same time, and they end up talking over each other like they often do:

“You jumped off a plane to save me.”

“You almost kissed me.”

Fitz’ eyes widen even more, shock written all over his face, and she’s pretty sure she’s mirroring his expression. She doesn’t know what she expected, but him mentioning  _ that _ was definitely not it. She wants to say something, she’s not sure what, but his mortified expression is so evident, like he’s definitely beating himself up for what he just let out, that she somehow ends up pretending she didn’t hear what he said.

“What?”

His expression swaps from horrified to deeply relieved – with a hint of embarrassment as well – in a split second, and then he’s letting out a small, nervous chuckle, playing with a loose thread of his pillowcase. “Nothing? Ha, uh, yeah, so the plane thing.”

He’s avoiding her eyes, wrapping his arms around his pillow, his gaze lost in front of him, and she gets the sudden urge to grab his face and make him look at her – but she doesn’t do it, obviously, because that’s just… not a good idea. “I just, I just wanted to tell you that I’m,” she pinches her lips, looking for her words, desperate to meet his eyes but finding that it’s somehow easier to talk when he’s not staring back. Everything is so weird. “I’m, I’m very thankful for what you did Fitz.” He vaguely shrugs in response, and somehow with that she realizes there’s something else she’s been meaning to tell him. He was angry at her earlier, but she’s just now seeing that she might be a little mad at him too. “Despite the fact that it  _ was _ very reckless of you, I mean you should have let Ward do it or–”

That definitely does grab his attention, and suddenly his deeply offended eyes meet hers. “What?” he rasps, disbelief obvious in his voice, “wh– why?” He’s frowning, and she can feel the anger bubbling inside him. “Because he’d have been so much better at it than me, is that it?”

He’s being unfair. “Of course not, that’s not what I–”

“I mean that’s just–” he interrupts her again, tossing the pillow behind him and facing her fully now, “that’s just rubbish really, ‘cause I apparently did a pretty good job since you’re here right now, didn’t I?”

“You could have gotten yourself killed!”

It comes out in a yell, a lot louder than she ever intended. She’s jumped to her feet, looking down at him with tears in her eyes, her hands clenched into fists to prevent them from shaking. She can’t believe any of this. All this time spent reflecting on whatever feelings she has for him and she didn’t even realize how angry she was at him. It’s an irrational sort of anger, if she’s being honest with herself, but that knowledge doesn’t prevent her from feeling it all the same.

It definitely takes him by surprise. He’s staring at her with wide eyes, and all his anger seems gone. She watches as he opens and closes his mouth a couple of times, apparently looking for an answer, and just like that her own anger subsides, leaving her standing in front of him like an idiot, chest heaving and barely a few inches away from his face. “Um, well I um,” he stammers for a second, craning his neck up to look at her, and somehow he seems out of breath too, and really she has no idea what on earth is going on. “You, you could have gotten yourself killed too.”

She plops back down on the bed next to him at that, hands covering her face for a second. “Well that was the plan,” she sighs, a lump forming in her throat.

“Yeah, and it was a stupid plan,” he retorts, nudging her lightly, and she can hear the tentative smile in his voice.

“I know,” she sighs again, glancing at him for a second before looking back down at her hands. “My point is… I know how you feel about all this, I know you’re into the field only because of me and I’m…” she takes a sharp breath, taking her chance and meeting his eyes for good now. “I’m sorry I dragged you into this… this ‘flying circus’ or whatever.” She looks away, not entirely sure if she wants to know his feelings about this after all – because what if he’s actually mad at her for getting him into this? What if he wants out? She’s really not sure what she’d do if that was the case.

“Well I’m not sorry about it,” Fitz says after a few seconds of silence, and she glances at him in surprise.

“You’re not?”

“Nope,” he shakes his head, his knee bumping hers lightly – which sends weird tingles up her leg for some reason. “I mean, who would’ve helped you figure out how to make that anti-serum if I hadn’t been there huh?” She can’t help her smile at that, and it seems to please him because he almost looks at her smugly. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily, Simmons.”

“You know that’s not what I want,” she retorts, tilting her head at him with a small smile, and this time she definitely does not imagine the blush on his cheeks in response. It makes her own cheeks grow hot too, but somehow emboldens her to keep going at the same time. For a second she thinks about telling him to ask her what she wants, but she chickens out entirely and instead looks down at where their knees are still touching. “Thank you Fitz,” she whispers after a moment, “for everything.”

“You’re welcome, Simmons.”

Their gazes meet, and she can’t help herself and glances down at his lips after a few seconds. And he sees it, she knows he does because his lips part slightly, mirroring the surprise she knows has settled in his blue eyes. She doesn’t leave herself the time to ponder. She leans in, and presses her lips to his. They’re warm, and soft, and her heart is pounding so hard in her chest she can’t hear anything else. She doesn’t let it last for more than a second though. She has no idea why. She stands up from the bed, hands a little shaky.

“That erases the ‘almost’,” she tells him quietly, without looking back at him because she’s not sure she wants to know what’s in his eyes right now. She takes a few steps, reaching for the handle of the bunk’s door, but then he grabs her wrist and holds her back. A shiver runs up her arm, originating from where his fingers are wrapped around her wrist, and her breath catches in her chest. She feels him stand behind her, and her heart is pounding even harder than seconds before.

“Jemma…”

He so very rarely calls her by her name. The occurrences before today could have been counted on the fingers of one hand, in all the years they’ve been friends. It means something. It has too. It means, it means… no, she really needs to avoid jumping to conclusions, just like he said earlier. It might mean something, but it also might not mean anything at all. She knows she has to turn and face him, but she’s deeply afraid of what she’s going to see when she does. The ‘what ifs’ are so numerous they’re almost making her dizzy.

When she does turn around and meet his eyes, she’s surprised to discover him so close to her. His face is serious, but his gaze uncertain, and her scientific brain tries to come up with a hundred of possible explanations for that in the thirty-second span of time where they just stand there staring at each other in silence.

Then he speaks again, his voice low and hesitant. “You kissed me.”

It’s not a question, but she still feels the urge to answer nonetheless. “I did.” She cannot explain or even comprehend the shift she witnesses in his eyes at that, but when he doesn’t reply anything to that she feels like her heart just droops sadly in her chest. This was a mistake. “I’m so sorry Fitz I just–”

But then his lips are on hers again, muffling the sound of her surprise, and he’s grabbing at her waist in an almost desperate gesture that makes her heart skip a few beats. She moves her hands up to his face, her fingers skimming across his soft skin, and it all feels so  _ right _ . His lips feel incredible moving with hers, sending shivers up her spine, and it’s absolutely nothing like any of the other kisses she had before. It feels so familiar and yet so new at the same time. Innocent and shy at first, burning and desperate the second after.

Like neither of them can believe they’re actually doing this.

Kissing each other.

She grabs at the collar of his shirt to keep him close, and he blindly backs her up to the closed door, pressing his entire body against hers. His hands are soft and careful on her waist, but his eager mouth betrays him. She definitely doesn’t mind. She never really thought much about it before, but she really wouldn’t have thought he’d be that good at it. Oh, but who is she kidding, of course it makes sense that he is, it’s  _ Fitz _ . Amazing, wonderfully smart Fitz. He’s probably charting every little thing he does that gets a reaction out of her as they kiss. Yes, he’s definitely doing that, she thinks. And he’s definitely getting reactions out of her too, which she’s not ashamed of in the slightest.

One of his hands moves to cup her cheeks and she sighs against his lips. His tongue eagerly meets hers and she slides her arms over his shoulders to hold him even closer. He lets out a low moan when she does, and it sends a delicious wave of something warm through her entire body. She smiles and he does too after a second, and the intimacy of that small action is so wonderfully overwhelming she just has to take a second to draw a shaky breath. He presses his forehead to hers as she does, and from what she gathers he seems thankful for the opportunity to pause for a second. She gets it, she feels it too. This is all so  _ new _ .

“So that’s, that was, ahem, yeah–” he stammers out, his hand falling back from her cheek to her waist, and she shivers because of his touch. There’s no denying it now, and she’s okay with it she thinks.

“That was new,” she nods with an amused grin, pinching her lips when he scoffs a little.

“Understatement of the year,” he mumbles, but she knows he’s not annoyed because when she chuckles he gives her a bright, albeit still a little unsure smile.

“Was that… okay?” she asks quietly after a second of silence, biting down her smile when he nods instantly at that.

“Yeah, yeah definitely okay.”

“Okay,” she nods too, and they share a shy smile.

“Touchdown in five minutes,” May’s voice comes from the speakers above their heads, sharp and to the point as always. “Get ready.”

Fitz instantly steps back from her at that, and she admits it, she feels a little disappointed. But the shy smile he’s still giving her is enough to make her heart skip a beat again. “We should go,” she tells him, hesitating for a second before rearranging the collar of his shirt. She wants to kiss his fond smile but she refrains herself. They’ve got time.

“Um, should we, um–” he’s hesitating again, and she finishes his sentence for him without even thinking.

“Keep this between us for now? Yeah.”

“Right, okay.”

“Are you nervous?” she asks him with a curious look, and he rolls his eyes.

“No, everything’s fine, we’re just about to keep something secret from a bunch of secret agents, is all.”

“It’s just until we figure things out,” she reassures him with a soft smile, her breath catching when he absentmindedly runs a finger on her left cheek.

“I know.”

He’s very close now, his nose almost brushing hers, and a flock of butterflies erupts in her stomach to the knowledge that he definitely wants to kiss her again. She does too, very much. She cannot believe they’re doing this. “We have to go,” she reminds him reluctantly, and he runs a hand through his hair with a small chuckle.

“Right.”

So they get out of Fitz’ room together, careful not to be too close to each other, not noticing that Skye is sitting on the couch on the other side of the room, giving them a curious glance. They don’t notice her knowing, almost triumphant smile either, and it’s probably for the best.

Because Skye is  _ definitively _ jumping to conclusions. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it! (Am I feeling clever for that ending? Hell yeah.)
> 
> Also, writing about these two science geniuses is SO MUCH FUN, I learned a lot of biochemical stuff while writing this chapter, it was very interesting! xD
> 
> Thank you all for reading, I hope you had as much fun reading as I had writing, please don't hesitate to drop by in the comment section, I lovvvve feedback! :D
> 
> ♥♥♥


End file.
